Meditation can help you get in touch with your feelings and gain awareness of things that are going on that may be causing you stress and leading you to restrict or overeat. Therapy and meditation can both be catalysts that clear away stuff so people can resolve things themselves and self-activate. As you’ll see in […]
Three Ways to Have More Compassion for Yourself
The world can be a harsh and confusing place for people who are dealing with an eating disorder. What might be a simple task for other people, such as a trip to the grocery store, can be daunting when you are surrounded by mixed messages. Standing at the checkout counter, a quick glance at the […]
Have you been feeling stressed lately? Stress. It’s everywhere. Like a bad penny, it keeps turning up, affecting your mood, your personality, your effectiveness, and often causing anxiety or irritability on the job, at school, or at home. It’s not a pleasant feeling when you want to enjoy life, but can’t. Wouldn’t it be nice […]
What Does it Mean to Surrender?
Twelve step programs have many recovery tools that can be beneficial to those who are struggling with food addiction, emotional eating, anorexia, compulsive eating or bulimia. One of these valuable concepts is surrender.
A List of 12 Step Groups and Websites
AA – Alcoholics Anonymous ABA – Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous ACA – Adult Children of Alcoholics Al-Anon/Alateen, for friends and family members of alcoholics CLA – Clutterers Anonymous CoDA – Co-Dependents Anonymous, for people working to end patterns of dysfunctional relationships and develop functional and healthy relationships DA – Debtors Anonymous EA – Emotions Anonymous, […]
Make Amends to Make Your Guilt Disappear
12-step programs such as Overeaters Anonymous and Eating Disorders Anonymous contain many useful tools that any of us can use. When it comes to healing guilt, one of the best methods is found in steps 8 and 9. Step 8 reads, “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make […]
Guilt is a Four-Letter Word
Be honest. How many of your actions and decisions today were driven by guilt? Were you trying to relieve guilt that you already felt, or trying to avoid feeling guilty later? Using guilt as a motivator starts a chain reaction that can very self-destructive. This is true for everyone, but for someone in recovery from […]
Five Things That Get in the Way of Your Spiritual Connection
This month we’ve been discussing the spiritual piece of the recovery puzzle. For some, spirituality is an untapped resource. Once you learn about ways of accessing your own spiritual connection and make a conscious effort to do that, a whole new world is opened for you. Sometimes, though, the path to spiritual awareness can be […]
Use a Pen to Fight Your Triggers
One of the most helpful tools in 12-step recovery programs is the daily written inventory of what you did well that day, where you could improve, and if there is anything you need to set right with an apology or other action. This practice can be extremely useful when you're learning how to cope with […]
Let’s Get Triggered
For people with an eating disorder, emotional eating or food addiction, the holidays can be like a minefield of "triggers" – situations or foods that bring heightened anxiety and awaken the compulsion to use unhealthy eating behaviors. Earlier in my career, I had been trained from the perspective that we shouldn't mention triggers or specific […]